Best Friends
by aquarius12285
Summary: Before Jack, Z, Syd, or Bridge came along, Sky was best friends with Dru. This is a look at Sky's pre B squad power ranger days.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers

**Best Friends**

Chapter I: The First Day

For five teenagers, it was their first day at the S.P.D. Academy stationed on Earth. These five teenagers were the new D-squad cadets. There were three guys and two girls.

The oldest of the five was seventeen year old Dru Harrington, an alien from the planet of Tangar. He stood about six feet tall with brown hair and fair skin. He had three moles over each eyebrow.

The two other guys were both fifteen years old. The first was Schuyler "Sky" Tate. He was about six feet two inches tall with brownish blonde hair and fair skin. The other guy was Boom. That's it. No last name. Just Boom. He stood about five feet eleven inches tall with brown hair and fair skin. He was a little on the husky side.

The two girls were both fourteen years old. The first was Lily Marshall. She was five feet ten inches tall with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and fair skin. The other was an Asian girl named Kim Jiang. She stood about five feet four inches tall and had long black hair that reached her back.

A tall blue alien dog stood before them. "Welcome D-squad to S.P.D. Academy. I am your commander Anubis 'Doggie' Cruger," Cruger said.

"Who knew dogs could talk?" Sky whispered to Dru. Lily and Kim giggled, Dru smiled and Boom burst out laughing.

Cruger glared at Sky. "Is there something you'd like to share with us cadet?" Cruger asked Sky.

"No," Sky answered.

"Then I suggest you stay quiet," Cruger replied harshly. "Now I will give you a tour of the Academy and then afterwards, I will show you to your rooms."

XXXXXXXXXX

A couple hours later, the new D-squad were in their rooms. Kim and Lily shared a room. Sky and Dru shared a room. Boom had a room to himself since there were an odd number of cadets on D-squad.

In the room that Sky and Dru shared, Sky and Dru were getting to know each other.

"You don't look like you're from Earth, so where are you from?" Sky asked.

"I'm from a planet in another galaxy called Tangar," Dru responded.

"So then why did you come here?" Sky asked.

"I've spent my whole life this far on Tangar. I wanted to go someplace different where there were people other than Tangarians," Dru replied. "What about you? Why did you come here?"

"Because my dad was a power ranger and ever since I was a little kid, I've wanted to be just like him," Sky answered.

"Isn't it hard to live in the shadows of your father though?" Dru asked.

"Yeah I mean my father was the best of the best of the rangers," Sky replied.

"So tomorrow starts our first day of training," Dru stated.

"Yeah well if it's anything like that tour was, I'll be bored out of my mind," Sky remarked.

"The girls on our squad are pretty hot," Dru commented.

"Tell me about it. The blonde one especially is oh so fine," Sky said.

"I bet $100 I can get one to go out on a date with me before you can," Dru remarked.

"You're on," Sky answered.

XXXXXXXXXX

Over in the room that Lily and Kim shared, they were chatting away.

"I can't believe this place is so huge," Kim commented.

"Yeah I know. I'm probably going to be lost for the first month or so," Lily replied.

"You and me both," Kim added.

"I'm really not looking forward to training tomorrow," Lily remarked.

"Why did you have to remind me about that?" Kim replied.

"Oops. Sorry," Lily apologized.

"It's not a problem," Kim said.

"But I thought you said…" Lily started to say.

"Lighten up will you? I wasn't that serious," Kim responded.

"Oh ok. Hey, are you hungry? Do you feel like coming to dinner with me?" Lily asked.

"Sure. Let's go see if the guys want to come with us too," Kim answered.

XXXXXXXXXX

Moments later, Boom heard a knock on his door.

"Come in," Boom said.

The door opened and revealed Kim and Lily standing in the doorway.

"Hey, we were going to grab something to eat. Want to come with us?" Lily asked.

"Yeah sure. I'm starving," Boom answered.

"You don't mind if we stop by and ask the other guys do you?" Kim asked.

"Not at all," replied Boom.

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon, there was a knock on the door of the room Dru and Sky shared.

"Yeah what do you want?" Dru asked.

"Geez what's your problem?" Kim asked.

"You are so not going to win the bet if you keep on like that," Sky whispered to Dru.

Dru rolled his eyes. "Are you going to come in or what?"

The door opened to reveal the other three members of D-squad.

"Hey we were going to get some dinner and we were wondering if you guys wanted to tag along?" Lily asked.

"Sure. Let's go," Sky said.

"I can answer for myself," Dru remarked.

"Go ahead," Sky said.

"Yeah, I'll come with you," Dru answered.

The five D-squad cadets made their way to the cafeteria.

"Um…ok. Where's the food, the cooks, and the line?" Boom asked.

"We have to use that food replicator over there in the corner," Dru said. "Weren't you paying attention?"

"Why are you being such a jerk?" Kim asked.

"What did you just call me?" Dru replied.

"What are you deaf?" Kim remarked.

"You didn't answer my question!" Dru commented.

"What makes you think I have to?" Kim replied.

"Don't answer a question with a question," Dru stated.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Kim shouted.

In the meantime, Boom, Sky, and Lily had already gotten their food and were enjoying the showdown between Dru and Kim.

"I'm older than you," Dru said.

"So what?" Kim remarked.

"So that means you have to listen to me," Dru responded.

"You wish!" Kim retorted.

"Dru is so going to lose the bet. He's already ruined his chances with…uh what's her name again?" Sky thought to himself.

"Guys. Let's not fight here," Boom said.

"Butt out!" Dru yelled.

"Don't talk that way to him!" Kim warned.

"Oh, who's telling who what to do now?" Dru replied sarcastically.

"Haha. You're so not funny," Kim answered sarcastically.

Sky turned to face Lily. "Hi. I'm Sky and you are?"

"Lily," Lily answered.

"I heard there's this great party tonight downtown. Would you like to come with me?" Sky asked.

Lily blushed. "Like a date?"

"Well yeah if you want to call it that," Sky replied.

"I don't know. We have our first day of training tomorrow," Lily said.

"Oh come on. That's not until tomorrow. We have the whole night ahead of us," Sky said.

"Who am I kidding? I'd love to go out on a date with you!" Lily answered.

"Did you hear that?" Sky asked Dru. "It looks like I won after all!"

"Oh, hey can I come too?" Kim asked.

"Didn't you hear them? They're going on a date! You can't tag along!" Dru remarked.

"Was I talking to you?" Kim snapped.

Dru was silent.

"Yeah I didn't think so," Kim said. "By the way, I'm Kim."

"Nice to meet you Kim. I'm Sky. Sure you could come with us," Sky replied.

"Yeah the more the merrier," Lily added.

"In that case, could I come? The name's Dru," Dru said.

"Like I care what your name is!" Kim commented.

"Aw, let him come," Lily said.

"No way! He'd totally ruin the night!" Kim exclaimed.

"Can I come? By the way, I'm Boom," Boom said.

"Sure," Kim said.

"Oh, so he can go but not me?" Dru questioned.

"You got that right!" Kim remarked.

"So, what time does the party start?" Lily asked.

"It starts at eight," Sky answered.

"I can't wait!" Kim shrieked.

"Hey, so wait. Am I going?" Dru asked.

"What part of 'no' don't you understand?" Kim asked.

"Fine. If you want to come, then you're welcome to," Sky said.

"Are you kidding me?" Kim shouted.

"No, I'm not. Just avoid each other all night and you two shouldn't have a problem," Sky stated.

XXXXXXXXXX

After they had finished eating dinner, they all headed to their rooms to get ready for the party later that night.

In the girls' room, Kim was carrying on about how Dru's being there is going to ruin the night.

"I can't believe Dru's coming too!" Kim exclaimed.

"Did you really think we would leave him out?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, he'd probably leave us out if situations were reversed!" Kim commented.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you like him," Lily stated.

"Ewww! No way! Like him? I can't even stand him!" Kim remarked.

"Yet you've been talking about him nonstop since we got back from dinner," Lily said.

"That's because I don't want him going, not because I like him," Kim answered.

"Just do what Sky said and you should be fine. Just avoid Dru all night," Lily suggested.

"I guess," Kim said.

XXXXXXXXXX

Over in the room that Sky and Dru shared, Dru was also carrying on about how Kim's being there would ruin the night.

"Why did you say she could come?" Dru asked.

"Why does it bother you so much?" Sky asked.

"Don't answer a question with a question!" Dru stated.

"Look, you're never going to get a girl like that," Sky said. "That reminds me. Pay up!"

"What?" Dru asked.

"You lost the bet, so pay up!" Sky explained.

"Fine," Dru said handing Sky a hundred dollar bill.

"Why does Kim get under your skin so much?" Sky asked.

"She doesn't get under my skin," Dru commented.

Sky laughed. "You two were practically at each other's throats the whole time we were at the cafeteria!"

"What's your point?" Dru asked.

"Methinks it's because you like her," Sky answered grinning.

"No way!" Dru replied.

"Whatever. Be in denial all you want," Sky said.

Dru rolled his eyes. "This conversation is over."

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening, the five D-squad cadets were at the party. Some slow music started playing.

"May I have this dance?" Sky asked Lily holding out his hand.

"I thought you'd never ask," Lily replied.

Dru walked over to Kim. "Hey, want do dance?"

"Yeah, but not with you!" Kim replied before walking over to Boom and dragging him out to the dance floor.

"I can't believe this," Dru thought to himself looking at the dance floor and seeing everyone had a dance partner but him.

Dru looked at his watch. "It's already eleven o'clock? I better head back to the Academy," Dru said. Moments later, Dru was driving back to the Academy in the car that the five of them had come in together.

XXXXXXXXXX

After the party had ended at midnight, Sky, Lily, Kim, and Boom went out to the parking lot.

"Hey, where's the car?" Sky asked.

"Have you guys seen Dru lately?" Boom asked.

"He didn't!" Kim commented.

"It looks like we'll have to walk back to the Academy," Sky said.

To Be Continued…

Note: I know that my other fanfic "Dissension within the Ranks" is still incomplete, but I'm still thinking of ideas for it. In the meantime, I had an idea for another fanfic, so that's how this came about. This is only my second fanfic, so please be nice. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't review because I don't want to hear from you. I'm not saying you can't give me constructive criticism, because you can so long as it is constructive criticism and not just plain criticism.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

**Best Friends**

Chapter II: Angry Teammates

Sky, Boom, Lily, and Kim arrived back at the Academy at two in the morning after having to walk back. The four of them were furious that Dru left without them especially since Dru was their ride back. They carefully tiptoed their way to their rooms when a voice brought them to a halt.

"Where might I ask have you four been?" a commanding voice asked.

The four cadets turned around to see Cruger staring them down. They knew that they were in deep trouble and this probably wasn't a very good first impression they were giving. They were trying to come up with an explanation as to where they were that would get them in the least amount of trouble possible.

"That's ok. I already know because Dru told me about the party downtown you went to. What were you thinking? The four of you haven't even started your first full day yet and you are already in trouble! I suggest you get some sleep while you can because the wake up call is in four hours!" Cruger stated before turning on his heel and walking away.

Sky, Boom, Lily, and Kim were frozen in place. They couldn't believe that Dru ratted them out. How was it that Cruger was ok with Dru going to the party but not them? Did Cruger say the wake up call was in four hours? They had a feeling that the first day wouldn't be entirely too pleasant and it appears they were right if this was any indication.

"Well, we better go to bed and at least try to get some sleep. Good night," Sky said.

The other cadets nodded in agreement as they all headed off to their respective rooms. When Sky made it to his room, he saw Dru sleeping soundly on his bed. He fought an overwhelming desire to strangle Dru for ratting them out to Cruger. Sky decided against it and got undressed. Sky's pajamas consisted of nothing but boxers. He crawled into bed dreading the six o'clock wake up call.

XXXXXXXXXX

Four hours later, Cruger went around to personally wake up the cadets. He made a point to wake up Sky, Boom, Lily, and Kim first. First he entered the room that Kim and Lily shared to find them both sound asleep. Cruger walked over and stood between their two beds.

"On your feet cadets!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Lily bolted out of bed and stood before Cruger at attention. Kim on the other hand rolled on her side so that her back was facing Cruger. She also took her pillow and buried her head underneath it to muffle the sound of Cruger's yelling. Cruger walked over to Kim's bed and pulled the covers off of her bed.

"Fine! I'm awake! Are you happy now?" Kim snapped.

Seeing that the two were awake, Cruger left to wake up Sky and Boom. He came to a stop at the doorway of the girls' room. He turned around to face them.

"Training starts at 6:30. I suggest you don't be late!" Cruger warned before leaving their room.

After Kim and Lily were sure that Cruger left, they started whining, moaning, and groaning. Lily pulled out some workout clothes from her drawer and headed into the bathroom shutting the bathroom door behind her.

"Hey! Just don't take too long! I have to get changed too you know!" Kim shouted.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cruger made his way to Boom's room next. He found Boom out like a light with a little pool of drool on his pillow. Cruger flipped the light switch on. Boom pulled the covers over his head so the light wouldn't shine in his face.

"Give me another hour mom," Boom mumbled.

Cruger walked over to Boom's bed and shook him.

"When I say the wake up call is at six o'clock, I mean it! Now get up!" Cruger screamed as loud as he could.

Boom finally realized that he was at the Academy and that it was Cruger not his mom that was trying to wake him up. He immediately threw the covers off of him and sat upright in his bed. Boom didn't dare look Cruger in the eyes because he could already tell that he was not too happy with him.

"Now that you are finally up cadet, get ready. Training starts at 6:30," Cruger ordered before leaving Boom's room.

Boom was still groggy. He figured that he couldn't have been asleep for longer than four hours. Boom was one of those people who liked to sleep in until noon, so waking up at six in the morning after only getting four hours of sleep was no easy task by any stretch of the imagination. If anyone was to blame for him not getting nearly enough sleep, it was Dru. After all, Dru left them high and dry at the party last night. Boom hadn't forgot that at all. He would find some way to get back at Dru for that.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cruger made his way to the room that Dru and Sky shared and found that Dru was already dressed in his workout clothes while Sky was still sleeping. He didn't expect anything differently. Cruger made his way over to Sky's bed, but felt a hand stop him. He saw it belonged to Dru.

"Allow me," Dru offered. He took a pitcher of ice cold water and poured it on Sky's face.

Sky instantly sat upright in his bed and looked to be extremely irritated.

"What was that for?" Sky spat while drying his face and hair off with the covers of his bed.

Dru had a huge smirk on his face and didn't even bother answering Sky's question. He left the room and headed to the training area.

"I told you that the wake up call was at six. Let this be a lesson to you. I mean what I say so don't ever doubt it cadet. Now hurry up and get dressed. Training starts at 6:30 and not a minute later," Cruger commanded before leaving the room.

Sky couldn't help but think how much of a suck up Dru was being. First he ratted the rest of his squad out to the Commander. Secondly, he goes to the training area early which Sky would guess is to impress the Commander. Sky didn't know how much longer he could tolerate having Dru as a roommate. Sky thought that maybe he should room with Boom instead. Anyone really would be better than Dru. An alarm sounded throughout the Academy. That was the wake up call for all the other cadets that Cruger did not want to wake up personally.

XXXXXXXXXX

Roughly a half an hour later, Kat and Cruger stood before D-squad. Cruger noticed how Sky, Boom, Lily, and Kim all looked like they much rather be sleeping right now. Dru on the other hand looked rested and ready to go. Cruger was impressed that Dru was the first one at the training area.

"Sky, Boom, Lily, and Kim, drop and give me 100 pushups!" Cruger ordered.

The four of them groaned about it and reluctantly did as they were told. Boom was only able to do ten before he couldn't do any more. Lily and Kim only made it to twenty before they had to stop. Sky was able to do all one hundred although not as fast as he would've been able to had he been able to get a full night of sleep.

"On your feet! That was pathetic! The four of you expect to become power rangers when you can't even handle doing pushups? Maybe this'll teach you not to stay out past curfew; I want the four of you to run twenty laps around the track! Dru, you only need to run four laps," Cruger ordered.

Sky, Boom, Lily, and Kim were all getting extremely annoyed at the special treatment Cruger was giving Dru. In fact, they were getting annoyed with Dru altogether. They had no idea Cruger would be so harsh. He seemed more like a drill sergeant than their Commander. They all were hurt at what Cruger had said to them. The four of them wanted to become power rangers more than anything else in the world which is why they joined S.P.D. in the first place. Then, Cruger had to verbally shoot them down like he did. It was almost too much to take.

"Come on Sky. Catch me if you can!" Dru taunted while running alongside Sky.

Sky and Dru were out in front. A little further back were Kim and Lily. Bringing up the rear was Boom. Boom was extremely winded. He had no idea wanting to become a power ranger would involve so much exercise. Unlike the rest of his squad, he didn't appear to be cut out for such rigorous training. Kat and Cruger were observing D-squad from the sidelines.

"I think we should flunk Boom out of the Academy. He obviously isn't cut out for this," Cruger remarked.

Kat looked at Cruger like he had just committed a sin or something.

"You know what I think? I think you should give him a chance. He's probably just tired because he wasn't able to get much sleep last night," Kat replied.

Cruger couldn't believe that Kat was defending Boom. If Cruger had anything to say about it, Boom along with Sky, Lily, and Kim would know their place at the Academy by the time he was through with them. There would be no more sneaking out of the Academy. There would be no staying out past curfew. They would do what they were told when they were told to do it and how they were told to do it with no questions asked. If they thought becoming a power ranger would be a walk in the park, they were sadly mistaken.

Dru and Sky had started their second lap with Dru slightly ahead of Sky. Kim and Lily were finished with half a lap while Boom was only done with a quarter of a lap. Dru allowed Sky to catch up to him and the two roommates were running side by side with one another. Dru stuck out his foot and tripped Sky. Sky fell face first on the track. Dru quickened his pace and could be heard laughing at Sky. Sky slammed his fist into the ground when he noticed something bizarre. A faint blue light was being emitted from his clenched fist. Freaked out, Sky unclenched his fist and the light went away. He picked himself off the track and chased after Dru. Sky couldn't stand Dru as it was and then Dru had to go and trip him. That was the last straw. Sky had had it with Dru. After their training was over, he was definitely going to talk to Cruger about switching roommates.

"Did you see that?" Kat asked referring to Dru tripping Sky.

Cruger was too preoccupied to pay much attention to Kat's question. What was troubling him was that he saw the faint blue light coming from Sky's hand. Cruger wondered what that was. Did Sky have some kind of mutant power? It seemed too unreal to Cruger though. It was something out of a science fiction novel or a science fiction movie, but not something that would happen in real life.

"I'm sorry. Did you say something Kat?" Cruger asked.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Whoa, so I'm really sorry it took so long to update this. I can explain though. Aside from being busy with schoolwork, I was debating whether or not to continue this story at all. I currently have four stories started and this is one of two that seems to not be getting much of a response. I was contemplating if I should just delete this story altogether or not because I mean the concept of this story may be mine, but maybe someone else can pull it off better and actually get a response from it. I still don't quite know what I'm going to do. I'd like to know what you think of this story as long as you don't flame me. Beautiful-Me89, thank you so much. I am so grateful to you. You reviewed three of my stories which is more than anyone else, and for that I thank you. You continue to stick by me and give me encouragement. StarTraveler, thank you for reviewing and expressing interest in this story. BloomingViolets, I was so happy when I saw that you reviewed my story. You are one of my favorite authors. You are undoubtedly my favorite Sky/Syd author. I especially loved your story Pink Surprise. You're like an established author and so it really means a lot for you to review my rookie stories. Thanks to everyone else who has taken the time to read my story.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

**Best Friends**

Chapter III: Catch Me If You Can

Sky had caught up to Dru just as he started his third lap. Dru was frustrated that Sky had caught up to him even after he had tripped him. Sky started to overtake Dru.

"What's the matter Dru? Can't keep up?" Sky taunted.

Dru wasn't about to let Sky get the best of him and started sprinting. Eventually, he passed Sky. A smile appeared on Dru's face once he realized he was in the lead. There was no way Sky was going to show him up. Dru started to get a little cocky and started to run backwards.

"I'm running backwards and I'm still beating you!" Dru boasted before bumping into Boom and getting knocked to the ground.

Sky took this opportunity to retake the lead. Dru picked himself off the ground and started off to catch up with Sky when Boom grabbed his arm.

"Not so fast. I've been meaning to have a word with you. That wasn't very nice of you to leave us without a ride last night," Boom said.

Dru freed himself from Boom's grip and shoved Boom.

"First of all, don't ever touch me again! Secondly, so what if I left you four without a ride last night? What are you going to do about it?" Dru said before shoving Boom a second time.

Boom backed up a couple of steps. He had wanted to confront Dru, but he didn't intend on the confrontation to get physical. Boom knew that if it came down to that, he was no match for Dru.

"That's what I thought," Dru said before taking off after Sky again.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lily and Kim were just finishing up their second lap when they saw Dru push Boom not once but twice. They were appalled by Dru's actions. Just because he was the oldest doesn't give him the right to push people around.

"What a jerk!" Kim remarked.

Lily agreed with Kim, but didn't say anything. She didn't want to be involved in some team squabble. Instead, Lily just wanted everyone on her team to get along with one another. Was that really too much to ask for?

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Kim asked.

Instead of answering, Lily just took longer strides and passed Kim. Kim noticed this and started to quicken her pace. Kim was a lot shorter than Lily was, so it took a lot more work for her to keep up with Lily's long strides.

"I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. Besides, why don't you try giving him a chance for a change? He doesn't seem like such a bad guy to me," Lily answered seeing how Kim wasn't going to let her get away.

Kim rolled her eyes and let out a fake laugh at Lily's response. Kim's first impression of Dru was that he was a jerk. Her impression of him now is that he is still a jerk. Kim was sure not going to do something stupid like give Dru a chance. As far as she was concerned, he already had his chance and he blew it.

"I can't believe you're defending Dru! What do you want to date him or something? I thought you liked Sky?" Kim asked.

Lily was shocked at what Kim had asked. Sure she found Sky to be attractive, but then again, she didn't think Dru was all that bad looking himself. She never really thought of Dru as being a potential boyfriend either. For that matter, she didn't see Sky as a potential boyfriend. Sure she enjoyed her dance with Sky last night, but they were just dancing as friends weren't they?

"I never said I wanted to date Dru. I do like Sky, but we're not exactly dating either," Lily replied.

Kim raised an eyebrow. She noticed how close Lily and Sky were last night when they were dancing. You'd have to be blind to not see the chemistry those two had. Kim found herself getting excited when Lily said that she and Sky weren't dating. If she didn't want to date him, Kim wouldn't mind dating him.

"Ok, so then it would be ok if Sky and I were to date?" Kim asked.

Lily found herself getting jealous of Kim once she asked her permission to date Sky. Lily had no idea why though. It's not like she was dating Sky or anything. Without realizing it, she started to sprint leaving behind a very confused Kim.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I think you're going to need to have a word with Dru. First he trips Sky, and then just a little while ago, he shoves Boom," Kat said to Cruger.

Cruger hadn't really been paying attention enough to notice that. He was still thinking about the blue light that he saw coming from Sky's hand earlier. Cruger had never seen anything like that before. It didn't make any sense to him. Humans don't have any superhuman powers, so what could possibly explain the blue light that emitted from Sky's hand?

"Doggie?" Kat said while snapping her fingers in front of Cruger's face.

Cruger was snapped out of his thoughts.

"What did you say Kat?" Cruger asked.

Kat was getting slightly annoyed with Cruger. She considered herself a fairly patient individual, but this was the second time that Cruger had completely spaced off and ignored what she was saying.

"I'd like to know what has you so distracted that you go into lala land and not hear what I'm saying." Kat asked.

Cruger wondered how Kat could not know what had him so distracted. Surely Kat saw it too right? How could you miss something so bizarre like that? Maybe Kat was talking about what she saw coming from Sky's hand too.

"Didn't you see that blue light coming from Sky's hand when he slammed his fist into the ground?" Cruger asked.

Kat gave Cruger a bewildered look. Cruger took that as she hadn't.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sky and Dru were both on their fourth lap around the track. Dru had narrowed the gap that separated himself from Sky, but Sky was still in the lead. Dru blamed Boom for that. If he hadn't distracted him thus allowing Sky to get a sizable lead, then Sky wouldn't be in the lead right now.

"It looks like I'm going to beat you Dru. That serves you right. This will teach you that cheaters never win," Sky shouted while keeping his eyes looking straight ahead.

Anger coursed through Dru's veins. He didn't know what it was about Sky, but there was something about him that turned everything into one big competition between the two of them. It was always a matter of seeing who could outdo the other. Sky may be taller than him, but Dru was older. He was not about to let some punk two years younger than him show him up.

"Cheating? Me? You want to talk about cheaters? You're the cheater! If Boom hadn't pulled me aside to talk to him, you wouldn't be in the lead right now!" Dru exclaimed while sprinting even harder in an effort to catch up to Sky.

Sky laughed at how much energy Dru was spending just to try to catch up to him. Dru was sprinting as hard as he could and he still hadn't caught up to him. What was even more amusing to Sky was that while Dru may be sprinting, he was not. Sky enjoyed hearing how frustrated Dru sounded.

"Oh please! I'm not the one who resorted to tripping to take the lead!" Sky retorted.

Dru had been sizing up his teammates from day one. He had no doubt in his mind that Sky was his biggest competition. Odds were that who would be red ranger would come down to either Sky or himself. Dru wasn't going to take orders from someone two years younger than him especially when that person was Sky.

"You better watch what you say or else the next time you decide to go to a party, you won't have a ride," Dru warned.

Sky rounded the final corner of the track and burst out in a full out sprint. Dru saw this and tried to increase his speed as well, but was disappointed to find that he was slowing down instead of speeding up. His body was tiring out after all the hard sprinting it had done. Dru was forced to watch Sky finish before he did.

"Seven minutes even," Kat called out after checking the time on the stopwatch.

Dru laughed as Sky had to continue to run 16 more laps around the track, while he was done as soon as he crossed the finish line. Dru took pride in the fact that the rest of his teammates had to run 5 miles whereas he only had to run 1 mile all because he told Cruger how they snuck out of the Academy to go to a party last night while failing to mention that he also went to the party. It worked out better than he had anticipated when he found out from some of the other cadets that they had stayed out past curfew.

"Seven minutes and thirty seconds," Kat announced as Dru finished his fourth lap.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kim and Lily had just started their fourth lap when Dru had finished his. Kim couldn't help but grin when she found out that Sky had received a faster time than Dru. For some strange reason, Lily also was happy to discover that Sky beat Dru.

"Ha! That serves Dru right. He is nothing but an arrogant, pompous, condescending jerk!" Kim remarked.

Lily was surprised that those adjectives were even in Kim's vocabulary. If the truth be told, Lily, like the rest of her team, was angry at Dru for leaving them at the party without a way home. Still though, she'd like to believe that Dru didn't mean anything personal by it. Come to think of it, those adjectives do seem to fit Dru.

"Hey Boom!" Kim greeted as she and Lily lapped Boom for a second time.

Boom gave Kim and Lily a smile as they passed him. Maybe he was only kidding himself, but Boom thought that there was something going on between himself and Kim last night at the party. There had to be a reason Kim asked him to dance with her right? Kim didn't just ask for a dance because she wanted to stick it to Dru. Or did she? At least he found a way to stick it to Dru to by intentionally bumping into him and subsequently allowing Sky to finish before Dru.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cruger had just got done telling Kat about what he had witnessed earlier concerning Sky and a certain faint blue light. Kat had a look of disbelief on her face. What Cruger told her didn't make any sense. It wasn't humanly possible.

"Are you sure that's what you saw?" Kat asked.

Cruger was in just as much shock when he first saw it too. For that matter, he was still in just as much shock as Kat. Cruger wondered if Sky was the only one who had powers or if there were others out there somewhere. If there were, they could not only be a danger to society, but a danger to themselves as well.

"I think I'm going to have to have a word with Sky about this," Cruger said.

To Be Continued…

A/N: I decided to continue with this story. I'm going to stick with this story until I finish it. While I appreciate getting reviews, I shouldn't base whether or not I continue with a story on the response it's getting. I should just write a story for the sake of writing a story. Whatever else happens happens. With that being said, DV2, Star Traveler, and Wisewing, thank you for reviewing my story and encouraging me to continue with it. Wisewing, thank you for listing my story as one of your favorites. It really means a lot to me to know that some people are actually enjoying what I'm writing. If you're reading this, I'd love to know what you think, so let me know in a review. No flames please.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Same as the last three chapters.

**Best Friends**

Chapter IV: The Secret's out

Sky, Lily, Kim, and Boom had finished running their five miles around the track. Well, all of them but Boom that is. Boom had only finished running two miles by the time everyone else had finished. Kat and Cruger told everyone to hit the showers and be ready for class in an hour. Boom was just glad that he didn't have to finish running the remaining three miles. Sky was about to leave the training area, when Cruger pulled him aside to have some words with him.

"I saw the blue light come from your hands once you slammed your fist on the ground. I was wondering what that was," Cruger said.

Sky looked down at the ground because he didn't dare look Cruger in the eyes. Sky had hoped that nobody saw his little display of power. He had no idea what it was either. That was the first time, Sky was even aware he had any powers. He was afraid that it might jeopardize his chances at the Academy.

"How about we just pretend you didn't see that?" Sky suggested nervously.

Cruger glared at him. Cruger was fascinated by Sky's power and wanted to learn everything fathomable about it. Not just to appease his curiosity either, but for Sky's sake as well. The more Sky understood his power, the better he would be able to control it. On one hand, Sky could become a kind of secret weapon with his newfound power. On the other hand, he could be a security risk to the entire Academy especially if he didn't learn how to control his power. Then of course, there's the possibility that if other cadets found out about Sky's power, he might get picked on and ostracized.

"I think it'd be best for you to just not use your power until we are better able to understand it. Kat and I can help you to understand your power too. All you have to do is set some time aside to come to the S.P.D. lab so we can explore every facet of your power," Cruger said.

Sky didn't like the sound of that. What Cruger was basically telling him was that he had to put in more time than the other cadets did all because he had some power that Cruger was curious to learn about. Sky couldn't guarantee that his power would be kept a secret. He had no intentions of showing off his power, but still he didn't exactly know how to turn his power on and off either. It was all so new to him.

"No offense, but how can you and Kat help me to understand my power if you two don't have any powers yourselves?" Sky asked hoping that Cruger would just forget about Sky even having powers.

Cruger glared at Sky once again. Here he was trying to help Sky and Sky wasn't willing to accept any help. True Kat and Cruger didn't have any powers of their own, and they certainly didn't have the power that Sky had, but still they could help Sky to learn how to control his powers through experimentation.

"I won't keep you any longer. Go hit the showers and just think about what I said," Cruger said before leaving the training area.

XXXXXXXXXX

An hour later, D-Squad was in one of the many classrooms that the Academy had. Kat was the instructor. She distributed copies of the S.P.D. handbook to each of the cadets.

"This is your S.P.D. handbook. In it you will find all of the rules and regulations that every S.P.D. cadet is expected to know," Kat said.

D-Squad was flipping through the pages and noticed how tiny the print was. It didn't like this would be good reading at all. There were so many rules and regulations to be memorized. The S.P.D. handbook itself looked like it was a paperback novel rather than a textbook, but there were still plenty of pages to be read.

"I suggest you start reading it tonight because you will be having a test on it tomorrow. You will need to know the first one hundred regulations in the S.P.D. Handbook for tomorrow's test. There's some good news though. It will be a matching test," Kat announced.

D-Squad groaned. None of them expected having homework when they first decided to join S.P.D. They expected becoming an S.P.D. cadet would require physical training, but they were completely caught off guard by the academic training.

"The test might as well be fill-in-the-blank. It probably wouldn't be any more difficult," Kim whispered to Lily.

Unfortunately for Kim, Kat had really good hearing being a feline alien.

"I'm sure that could be arranged," Kat said.

Kim's teammates glared at her. A matching test would be bad enough, but a fill-in-the-blank test would be even worse. Kim sank in her chair upon being glared at by her teammates. She didn't know Kat would be able to catch what she had whispered.

"Rule number one of the handbook states that everyone at S.P.D. answers to their commander with no questions asked. Rule number two states that…" Kat said as she read the first one hundred rules and regulations to the D-Squad cadets.

Once she had finished reading all one hundred rules, she noticed that Lily, Kim, Sky, and Boom had fallen asleep with their heads down on their desks. The only member of D-Squad that was awake was Dru. She scratched her nails across the chalkboard, and that did the trick as the four woke up upon hearing the rather displeasing sound.

"Now that you are awake, you are to report to the training center in half an hour where Cruger will have you do some simulation training," Kat said.

All of the D-Squad cadets groaned. They were practically being worked nonstop. They had an idea that the first day of training would be rough, but they had no idea it would be this rough. It was worse for Sky, Lily, Kim, and Boom though because they were operating off very little sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

A half an hour later, the members of D-Squad were in the simulation room of the training center. Cruger had initiated a simulation where krybots were attacking D-Squad to see how they stacked up in terms of their fighting skills.

Dru dodged a punch from a krybot and elbowed the krybot in the back of the head. He then swept the krybot's legs with a leg sweep. He punched a second krybot in the chest sending it flying backwards. Cruger was impressed with Dru's fighting abilities.

Lily's best bet was to use her legs as weapons considering she was five foot ten inches. She attempted to kick one krybot, but the krybot responded by catching her leg. Lily used her free leg to kick the krybot in the back of the head. Cruger watched on from the sidelines and thought that was a very resourceful counter that Lily had used.

Kim's strength lied in her quickness and agility. Two krybots were charging her one from in front and the other from behind. Kim leapt into the air and stopped them in their tracks with a midair splits kick. Cruger found the height of Kim's vertical leap to be remarkable given her short height.

Boom tried punching a krybot, but the krybot sidestepped and Boom connected with nothing but air. The same krybot kicked Boom in the back of the knee bringing him down to a kneeling position. A second krybot came over and the two krybots helped Boom to his feet. They monkey flipped Boom causing Boom to land hard on his back. Cruger shook his head in disapproval at Boom's fighting prowess or lack thereof.

Sky nailed a krybot with a tornado kick. Two krybots threw punches at Sky one after the other. One threw a high punch first followed by a second krybot throwing a punch a little lower. Sky blocked the first one with his fist, which also caused blue light to emerge from his hand again. Sky brought that same fist down to block the second krybot's attack. The first krybot had by then threw another punch, so Sky brought his fist up to block that, which in the process had created a force field that sent both krybots flying backwards. Sky was frightened by what he had just done and his teammates had seen it as well and stood there stunned as Cruger abruptly ended the simulation. Like everyone else in the simulation room, Cruger wondered what had just happened as well.

"What the heck was that? What are you some type of freak?" Dru shouted being the first to break the silence.

Although they didn't leave immediately, the rest of Sky's teammates eventually ended up leaving the simulation room since the simulation had been turned off. That left just Sky and Cruger in the room.

"Look, Sky…"Cruger started to say before Sky interrupted him.

"I didn't mean to ok? It just happened! I don't even know how it happened!" Sky shouted.

Cruger could see that Sky was clearly shaken up about what had just happened. To make matters worse, it seemed as though his teammates were afraid of Sky now that they discovered he had some sort of power. This is exactly what Cruger feared would happen. In all of the history of mankind, humans were never good with dealing with others who were different from them.

"It's ok. Don't let what Dru said get to you. You aren't a freak ok? We'll find a way to help you learn to control your power. It may take some time, but we will. As for the rest of your team, it may take some getting used to, but eventually they will come to terms with the notion of you having a special power," Cruger said trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Sky.

Sky was grateful that Cruger was trying to support him and comfort him in this difficult and trying time. However, Sky never felt more alone than he did right now. Nobody could possibly understand what he was going through. It's not like anyone else at the Academy, or for that matter anyone else that Sky knew had any kind of special power.

"Don't let it get to me? How could I not let it get to me? I am a freak! I don't blame Dru or anyone else for being afraid of me. I wouldn't be surprised if you were afraid of me too. If roles were reversed, I'd be afraid of me too!" Sky yelled before going off for a walk to clear his head.

XXXXXXXXXX

The rest of D-Squad was in the recreation room. They were all in shock at having seen Sky's power. They didn't know how to act around him anymore. Do they go on like nothing happened? Do they comfort him? Do they even mention his power at all? Do they flat out ignore him?

"There's no way I'm going to be on the same team as some freak!" Dru remarked.

He hoped that Sky's little slip would get him kicked out of the Academy. That way Dru would no longer have any competition when it came to who would become red ranger.

"Great! Well don't let the door hit you on the way out!" Kim commented.

Dru glared at Kim. He didn't get why she was always picking fights with him. Dru was older than Kim. Dru was taller than Kim. Dru wasn't certainly going to let some girl push him around.

"What is your problem with me? You shouldn't have a problem with me. It's Sky that you should have a problem with!" Dru retorted.

Boom wasn't afraid of Sky, but rather he sympathized with Sky. Boom could kind of relate to how Sky must be feeling. Boom had been teased and tormented for as long as he could remember for being fat. While that may be a completely different situation from what Sky was currently going through, it wasn't so different. Boom still knew what it was like to not fit in, which is probably how Sky felt.

"Why should I have a problem with Sky? What just because he's different? According to your logic then I should have a problem with you given that you're not even human!" Kim hollered.

Lily couldn't believe that Kim and Dru were at it again. They shouldn't be so focused on tearing each other apart. They should be focused on being there for Sky. If ever there was a time when Sky needed friends Lily thought it would be now. Lily was never the confrontational type of person. If anything, she was the mediator always trying to get people to at least be civil to one another.

"Sky's not normal Kim! Can't you get that through your thick skull?" Dru fired back.

Kim couldn't stand Dru. He was always so pushy bossing the rest of his team around just because he was the oldest. She and Dru always seemed to be getting into fights with one another. She hated how Dru went around thinking that he was always right. Kim had never met someone more full of himself than Dru. She was sure Dru thought he was a shoo-in for the red ranger position.

"You have three moles over each of your eyebrows. That isn't exactly normal either! Besides, the only one who is dense in here is you. You haven't even given Sky a chance. You just automatically think that because Sky has some power that he should be kicked out of the Academy. Sky's powers might even give us an added advantage on the battlefield," Kim said.

Dru couldn't believe it. Was he the only one who didn't feel comfortable being on the same team as Sky? The rest of his team was defending Sky. Well, only Kim was defending Sky. Lily and Boom weren't exactly backing Dru up either so they might as well be considered as defending Sky too. Dru had enough of Kim and went to Cruger to talk to him about switching roommates.

To Be Continued…

A/N: There you have it. I finished another chapter. I hope you liked it. StarTraveler, DV2, and Wisewing, thank you for reviewing the last chapter and thanks for sticking with me. DV2, thanks for adding my story to your favorites list. Wisewing, I tried to develop the characters of Kim and Lily more this chapter. I understand that it's harder to understand them since there are no TV characters to base them off of. Hopefully, this chapter gave you a better idea of what kind of characters those two are. If it didn't, there will be plenty more chapters for the two girls to get character development. I appreciate any reviews that I may receive, so if you are reading this story, I'd love to know what you think. I just ask one thing of you if you decide to review, no flames please.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Disney owns PR.

**Best Friends**

Chapter V: The First Test

Later that evening, Sky was alone in his room studying for the test they were to have tomorrow on the first 100 regulations in the S.P.D. handbook. The rest of his team found some way to avoid him ever since the incident during simulation training earlier in the day. Sky tried to not let it get to him, but that effort was in vain. Sky heard a knock on the door.

"There you are Sky. Are you ok?" Kim asked.

Sky was kind of surprised that the first person to come to him was Kim. He figured it would be Lily since Sky thought they were an unofficial couple, but apparently they aren't even a couple.

"Why are you talking to me? Aren't you afraid of me because I'm some sort of mutant now?" Sky replied.

Sky didn't really want Kim to answer that she was afraid of him, but he wouldn't be surprised if she did. Sky was in the everybody-hates-me-because-I'm-a-mutant frame of mind.

"I can't speak for the others, but I'm not afraid of you Sky. I actually think it's pretty cool for you to have powers like that. I'm talking to you because you are my teammate, and my friend. That's what friends do; they comfort one another when one of them is feeling down. Besides, you've been alone all afternoon and evening, so I figured you could use some company," Kim answered.

Sky motioned for Kim to come into his room. Kim sat on Sky's bed as Sky was at his desk reading the S.P.D. handbook.

"I'm sorry that the test tomorrow is fill in the blank because of me and my big mouth," Kim said.

Sky laughed at Kim's apology. It was the first that he had shown any other emotion besides sadness since earlier that afternoon.

"There's no need for you to apologize Kim. It's no big deal, so don't sweat it. Besides, I happen to be very good at memorization," Sky responded.

Kim was glad that Sky wasn't mad at her for causing the test tomorrow to be fill in the blank instead of multiple choice. The rest of her teammates had already displayed their anger towards Kim as they were trying to memorize the first 100 S.P.D. regulations.

XXXXXXXXXX

So it came to pass that Kim studied with Sky in his room up until curfew time at which point Kim gathered her stuff and headed to her own room. The two enjoyed the company of the other as both of them seemed to be at odds with the rest of their team. The next morning, it was a six o'clock wake up call, and training in the training area as it had been the previous day.

D-Squad went to class afterwards to take the test on the first one hundred S.P.D. regulations. They had two hours of time allotted to finish the test. Kat had a pretty good idea of how well each of them would do on the test by observing them while they took the test.

Sky was mowing right through the test without being hung up on a single regulation. Lily was moving steadily through the test, but was hung up on a regulation occasionally. Kim was gradually making her way through the test. She would tap her pencil on her desk whenever she would get caught up on a regulation. Kat heard the sound of a tapping pencil every now and then. Dru went through the test like a speed demon. Kat wasn't sure if that was because he really knew the first one hundred regulations from memory or if Dru was just trying to finish before Sky. Kat wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter because she had noticed a rivalry between Dru and Sky ever since yesterday. Boom would go through the test doing the ones he knew. He would skip ahead leaving the ones he didn't know blank with the hopes of being able to come back to them later. Kat would see Boom write an answer down. Flip a page. Write an answer down. Skip a whole bunch of regulations and flip another page. It continued in that fashion. After one hour had passed, the first person finished.

"I'm done Kat. Would you like me to bring my test up to you, or do you want me to keep it at my desk?" Dru asked.

Sky hated how Dru would suck up to Kat and Cruger. Dru was always trying to make himself look better than everyone else on his team. Sky noticed how Dru was excessively polite and excessively nice to authority figures. Dru was almost a sycophant in that sense.

"You can bring it up, and I'll grade it while the others are finishing," Kat answered.

Dru brought his test up and then went back to sit at his desk. He watched as Kat graded his test. Dru couldn't help but notice that Kat was making marks on his test. He hoped that didn't necessarily mean that he got that regulation wrong.

Sky finished after one hour and fifteen minutes of class. Lily finished after an hour and a half. Kim took an hour and forty-five minutes. Boom took the full two hours. Kat had managed to correct each person's test before the next person finished. Now, she just had to grade Boom's test. Not too much later, Kat finished.

"Before you leave, here are your graded tests. The five of you covered every single letter grade A-F. I suggest that you spend more time learning the material for tomorrow's test which will be on the next one hundred S.P.D. regulations. This time, the test will be multiple choice. You will have to read those regulations on your own time as class is now over," Kat said.

D-Squad came up and picked up their tests. Boom got the F with a 50 out of 100. Dru received the D with a 64 out of 100. Kim got the C with a 75 out of 100. Lily received the B with an 88 out of 100. Sky got the A with a perfect score.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cruger was in the S.P.D. lab with Kat discussing how well the D-Squad cadets did on their first test. She handed Cruger a data pad with their test scores on it.

"Boom got an F? That is simply unacceptable. He hasn't been doing so great these first couple of days. I still think we should flunk him out of the Academy," Cruger said.

Kat was shocked that Cruger would suggest such a thing, but she wasn't surprised. After all, it wasn't the first time Cruger had wanted to flunk Boom out of the Academy.

"I think we should give him another day. The test today wasn't the usual multiple choice. It was fill in the blank. Maybe Boom will do better on a multiple choice test. Give him another chance Doggie," Kat pleaded.

Cruger growled in response. He hated being wrong. He knew Kat had a point, but he just didn't want to openly admit that. It was probably due to Cruger's stubborn nature. He was the commander after all, so he shouldn't be wrong ever.

"Fine, but these other test scores aren't acceptable either. The only cadet that has an acceptable score is Sky. If these five want to eventually become power rangers, then they're going to have to learn how to memorize a few simple regulations," Cruger remarked.

Kat mentally laughed at Cruger's comment. Simple? A good portion of the regulations in the S.P.D. handbook were far from simple. Some were complex because they had lengthy descriptions. Others were complex because they had several parts to them like regulation number one hundred. That had four parts to it, A-D.

"I think you should lower your standards Doggie. Keep in mind that it was their first test. Don't forget it was fill in the blank. You can't expect them all to ace their first test with a perfect score. To do so would be unreasonable. That's how people learn Doggie, by making mistakes," Kat said.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the common room, Dru, Lily, and Boom were all ganging up on Kim and blaming her for their doing poorly on the test.

"This is your entire fault Kim! If you hadn't made the remark that it might as well have been a fill in the blank test, we wouldn't have had a fill in the blank test!" Dru shouted.

Kim didn't take Dru's comment to heart. She didn't take anything Dru said to heart. Instead she just took it with a grain of salt.

"I can't believe I got an 88 on my test! I am a straight A student! I always have been! Yet now thanks to you Kim, I get a B," Lily said.

Kim wouldn't mind having received a B+ on the test. It was certainly better than the C that she got. She thought Lily was overreacting. A B+ is practically an A-.

"I can't believe I failed the test! I'm probably going to be flunked out of the Academy tomorrow! Thanks a lot Kim!" Boom yelled.

Kim expected this sort of reaction from Dru. Well, Lily's reaction didn't surprise her either. After all, from what she had learned about Lily, Lily is your typical overachiever. However, she didn't expect to get this kind of reaction from Boom. She couldn't really blame him though. She'd be pretty freaked if she flunked the test. Like Boom, she'd probably be afraid that would result in expulsion.

"Knock it off you guys! Quit picking on Kim! You have nobody to blame for getting the grade that you got except for yourself. When something doesn't go your way, you can't just find a scapegoat and blame that person. You have to accept responsibility for your own actions, or in this case, for your own grades. Nobody is in charge of how well you do here other than yourselves," Sky said.

Kim was glad that Sky had come to her rescue. She was more than capable of speaking her own mind and fending for herself, but that still didn't change the fact that it was nice to know that Sky had her back.

"I don't believe this! You got the A Sky? I am sick of you showing me up. I am not about to be showed up by some freak like you!" Dru hollered.

It was Kim's turn to return the favor and defend Sky from Dru.

"Why don't you just go back to your own planet of Tartar or whatever Dru? I've had it with you bossing us around and yelling at us! What just because you're older than us you think you have a God given right to treat us as inferior? Sky's right. If you don't like the grade that you got, which by the way I can't believe you were the one to get a D Dru, then you have nobody to blame but yourself. If you are sick of Sky showing you up, then I suggest you just get used to it, because Sky will always be better than you!" Kim retorted.

TBC

A/N: I think what I should do right off the bat is apologize for taking so long to get up this chapter. I could go and blame many different things for why it took me so long to update. I could say it is because I've been busy with schoolwork. I could say that it's because I now have five other stories started besides this one. Actually, I just did. Just so you know, as much as I'm making Dru out to be the jerk, as the title of my story implies, and like my summary said, Dru will eventually become best friends with Sky. I just think the whole not-being-best-friends-from-the-beginning thing is more interesting. With school started, I'll probably only be able to update Fridays-Sundays (which are the weekends for me this quarter since I have no Friday classes). Thanks to Wisewing, StarTraveler, and SPD Yellow for reviewing my last chapter. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my creation. If you're going to review, remember no flames.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. I'm just a typical, poor college student.

A/N: I am extremely sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time. Just know that I have no intention of canceling this fic nor is this fic complete.

**Best Friends**

Chapter VI: Uncertainty

Later that night, Sky was in his room studying S.P.D. regulations 101-200. He managed to get a perfect score on the first test, but the next test would be equally important. Sky needed to prove that his perfect score wasn't a fluke. After all, his father was a power ranger. His father was the best of the best, and those were some big shoes to fill.

"There you are Sky," Kim said from the doorway of Sky's room.

"Hey Kim, what's up?" Sky asked.

"Well, I was taking a break from studying. Now I feel like going out and partying or something fun. Do you want to tag along?" Kim asked.

Sky thought that was typical of Kim. Kim struck Sky as a bit of a wild child always wanting to do something spontaneous. One thing was for sure though. Kim certainly wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Her conversations with Dru over the past couple of days are proof of that.

"I really don't think you should Kim. You might get in trouble again, and Cruger isn't in a particularly great mood after we snuck out last time," Sky answered.

Kim sighed. That apparently wasn't the answer she was hoping for. "In that case, hold on. I'll be right back. I just have to get my handbook, and then we can study together," Kim said.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the command center of the Academy, Dru was discussing his living arrangements with Cruger. It was more of a one-sided discussion really.

"I can't stand Sky! Who does he think he is? What does he think he's better than me? He's always trying to show me up! I'm older than him, and if anyone deserves to be red ranger on our squad, it's me not him! The two of us being roommates isn't working anymore! Either he moves out or I move out!" Dru exclaimed.

Cruger growled in response. "First of all cadet, do not take that tone of voice when speaking to me! Do you understand? I am your commander! You don't talk like that to me or any of your superiors! Am I making myself clear? Secondly, the five of you are D-Squad, so none of you are going to be given morphers anytime soon. Thirdly, your grade on your test today was simply unacceptable! As you have no doubt found out by now, this Academy trains you both physically and academically. Your progress is constantly being observed by Kat and myself. So while you may be satisfying us when it comes to the physical part of your training, the academic part is a problem. Now for the matter of your living arrangements, I will tell Boom that he is to move in with Sky. You will take Boom's room," Cruger replied.

The blood in Dru's veins was boiling with rage. Up until this point, Dru had thought that he had been Cruger's favorite cadet in D-Squad. However, now he had every reason to believe that Sky was Cruger's favorite instead. Simply the thought of that made Dru sick to his stomach.

"I guess I better pack my things," Dru mumbled under his breath through clenched teeth.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lily was in her room studying the S.P.D. handbook when Kim returned to grab her copy off her nightstand.

"Hey Kim, I'm glad you're back. Listen, I just wanted to apologize for how I acted before. It was wrong of me to blame you for my test grade. I'm sorry," Lily said.

Kim didn't know whether or not to believe Lily. Lily hadn't given her any reason not to believe her, but Kim was still hesitant. Lily struck Kim as the type of girl who always wants to be on good terms with everyone around her. In fact, she and Lily were practically polar opposites. Lily was studious and a straight "A" student from what she said earlier. Kim on the other hand got good enough grades to get by, but no better and no worse. Lily seemed to want everyone to like her. Kim on the other hand didn't really care what people thought of her.

Kim decided to give Lily the benefit of the doubt. "Don't worry about it. I've forgiven you. You were probably just tired and stressed that's all," Kim replied.

Lily looked relieved to hear Kim say that she forgave her. "Say, where are you going?" Lily asked.

Kim dreaded Lily asking her that question. Kim was kind of hoping that she and Sky could study alone. "I was going to study with Sky. Why, did you want to come?" Kim asked hoping Lily's answer would be no.

Lily thought about it for a moment. "Sure, why not? Three heads are better than two," Lily answered.

Kim inwardly hated herself for having asked Lily to come along in the first place.

XXXXXXXXXX

At the S.P.D. lab, Boom was talking to Kat about quitting S.P.D.

"I just don't think I'm cut out for this. You've seen me. I can't handle the physical part of training. I certainly can't handle the academic part either. Maybe I don't even belong here," Boom said.

Kat felt for Boom. She had been trying so hard to convince Cruger not to flunk him out of the Academy. Maybe she had been trying to convince the wrong person this whole time. Kat saw something in Boom when she first met him. Maybe becoming a power ranger wasn't Boom's calling. Kat knew though that once Boom found out what his calling was, he'd be good at it.

"If that's how you really feel, then I can't stop you. I can give you some advice though. Before you make any rash decisions, sleep on it tonight. See how things go tomorrow and take it from there. Maybe all you need is a full night of sleep," Kat responded.

Boom had no idea why Kat refused to give up on him, but he was flattered by the gesture. Boom thought back to when he had first found out that he got accepted into the Academy. His parents were so thrilled for him. In fact, they were probably more thrilled than Boom himself. His parents. On second thought, Boom couldn't drop out of the Academy. What would his parents think?

"You're right Kat. I'll give it another day. Thanks for not giving up on me. It really means a lot to me Kat. More than you know," Boom said before leaving the S.P.D. lab.

XXXXXXXXXX

Dru was busy packing his things when Kim and Lily showed up ready to study with Sky. Dru and Kim glowered at one another as soon as they saw one another.

"Where are you going?" Kim asked.

Dru looked surprised that Kim had actually talked to him without yelling at or insulting him. "I-" Dru started to say.

"Oh, wait! That's right! I don't care! Hopefully though you brightened up and finally decided to leave the Academy!" Kim remarked.

'I should've known better! There's no way Kim would ever be nice to me! I despise her almost as much as Sky!' Dru thought to himself.

"Kim that was a little uncalled for don't you think?" Lily asked.

Sky chuckled to himself. Kim had spunk. That was for sure. Sky was glad that someone else besides him was more than willing to put Dru in his place.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Kimmy, but I'm not leaving the Academy. I'm just switching rooms with Boom. So it looks like you're still stuck with me. Deal with it," Dru retorted.

Kim was fighting an overwhelming desire to sock Dru right about now for calling her 'Kimmy'.

"Would somebody mind telling me what exactly is going on here?" Cruger yelled after passing by the room.

The four cadets looked at the ground or at least anywhere but at their angry, intimidating commander.

"I thought you were supposed to be packing Cadet Harrington?" Cruger asked.

Kim, Lily, and Sky noticed that Dru picked up the pace with his packing after Cruger posed that question.

"Cadet Tate, will you come with me?" Cruger asked.

Sky exchanged a nervous glance with Lily and Kim before getting up and leaving the room with Cruger.

"I have to inform Boom that he is now going to be rooming with you. After that though, Kat and I would very much like to start exploring your powers," Cruger said in a softer tone of voice.

Sky's heart skipped a beat. He had actually forgotten about his powers up until Cruger reminded him of them. He hated feeling like he was some type of guinea pig or lab rat. Sky felt a lump start to form in his throat.

"Yeah, um about that. No offense, but I haven't really had a chance to study all too much yet for the test tomorrow, so maybe some other time," Sky said.

Cruger stopped Sky just as Sky was about to turn around and head back to his room.

"You can't run from your powers forever Sky." Cruger said.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening in the S.P.D. lab, Kat and Cruger were getting ready to run tests on Sky's powers. Sky was connected to various gadgets and gizmos that Kat had created on her own.

"Ok Sky, now make a force field just like you did before," Kat said.

Sky tried to remember how exactly he did it the first time. It had something to do with clenching his fist. There was more though. What though Sky couldn't remember.

"Yeah, um, how did I do that again?" Sky asked.

Cruger himself couldn't answer that question right away. He thought back to the simulation training when it happened. A light bulb went off in Cruger's head.

"Clench your fist, and wave your fist around in a circle," Cruger commanded.

Sky did as he asked and created a force field. He unclenched his fist and lowered his arm as soon as his force field was created.

"Doggie, I'm picking up massive amounts of activity in various regions of the brain. His force field isn't created with his hand, but his mind," Kat stated.

Cruger was fascinated by this finding. How could his mind be responsible for creating the force fields? How was this power of Sky's to be explained?

"Sky, can you create another force field, but this time hold it up? I want to find out how long you can hold up a force field for," Kat said.

Sky was uncomfortable about what Kat was asking him to do. 'What if something goes wrong? What does she mean by how long I can hold up a force field for? What am I supposed to hold it up until I collapse or something?' Sky thought to himself.

Cruger sensed Sky's uneasiness about the situation. "Don't worry Sky. The moment you begin to feel like you physically can't hold it up any longer, stop," Cruger said.

Sky reluctantly threw up another force field, and this time he held it up. Seconds passed by and Sky felt fine.

"He's held it for a minute now Doggie," Kat said.

Cruger had no idea whether or not that was a particularly impressive feat.

Sky continued to hold up the force field. He started to get bored, and had to stop himself from getting distracted.

"How long has it been now?" Cruger asked.

"5 minutes sir," Kat answered.

Another 5 minutes passed, and Sky still had his force field up. Sky started to wonder how much longer this was going to take.

"We're up to ten minutes now," Kat told Cruger.

Cruger wanted to make sure Sky was doing alright. The last thing he wanted was to push Sky so hard that he lost control.

"How you doing Sky? Are you feeling ok?" Cruger asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Do we really have to keep doing this though? I still have that test tomorrow that I need to study for," Sky said.

Cruger laughed as did Kat. Cruger saw that Sky had all the potential in the world to be just as great of a ranger as his father was.

Another twenty minutes passed and still nothing was different. At least that's what Kat and Cruger thought.

"It's been thirty minutes now," Kat informed Cruger.

Sky started to stagger on his feet. He appeared to be doubled over in pain. With his free hand, he was massaging his left temple.

This turn of events alarmed both Kat and Cruger.

"Sky, drop your force field! Drop it now!" Cruger commanded.

Sky must not have heard Cruger though as he now started to groan in pain.

"Sky! Can you hear me? If you can, lower your force field!" Kat shouted.

Sky didn't lower his force field. Cruger started to become very concerned. He hadn't intended the experiment to end up like this.

"I'm going in," Cruger said.

Cruger approached Sky. He went to grab his arm but was thrown backwards by Sky's force field.

"Doggie!" Kat shouted rushing to his side.

"I'm fine," Cruger replied reassuringly.

Just then, Sky released his force field and crumpled to the ground in a heap.

"Oh no! Sky!" Kat shouted rushing over to check on him.

**Let me know what you think in a review. Those always make me happy. Constructively criticize me if you like. No flames please.**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: PR belongs to Disney…I think, anyhow I don't own Power Rangers.

**Best Friends**

Chapter VII: Five Becomes Four

"How is he?" Cruger asked from the doorway of the infirmary.

"He's stable. It's just a matter of waking up now," Kat replied.

Cruger was glad to hear that, but he still felt like it was all his fault this even happened in the first place. Maybe experimenting with Sky's powers wasn't such a good idea after all. How could he be so reckless? How could he put Sky's well being in jeopardy? For what? Just to satisfy his own curiosity? What kind of a commander does that make him?

"Do you have any idea what went wrong?" Cruger asked.

"I'm afraid not," Kat answered.

Word had spread fast through the Academy about what had happened. Everywhere Cruger went, cadets would give him dirty looks or just flat out refuse to look at him at all. It's not that Cruger didn't blame them for reacting in such fashion though. However, that didn't make Cruger feel any better about himself either.

"Do you mind staying with Sky? I have to go and administer the test on regulations 101-200 to the rest of D-Squad," Kat stated.

"Yeah, go ahead," Cruger replied.

The test. All Sky had wanted to do was study for the test, but now here he was unconscious in the infirmary on the day of the test. Maybe Sky was right from the beginning. He and Kat didn't have powers themselves, so how were they supposed to help Sky control his powers if they didn't know the first thing about them? What was he thinking? Why would he even allow Sky to experiment with his powers knowing full well that he probably doesn't even know how to control them?

XXXXXXXXXX

Kat entered the classroom to find the rest of D-Squad in their seats with their pencils out, and ready to go. She could sense the worry radiating off them though. No doubt, they were concerned about Sky after hearing what had happened from other cadets.

"Is Sky okay?" Lily asked.

"We think so," Kat responded.

"You 'think'? What do you mean you 'think'!" Kim exclaimed.

"I mean that he is stable, but unconscious," Kat answered.

Kat handed them their tests putting an end to the uncomfortable conversation that was going on.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Where am I?" Sky asked sitting up in his medical bed.

Cruger was so relieved that Sky was awake. Now he just hoped that Sky wasn't angry with him and Kat.

"It's ok. You're in the infirmary. After experimenting with your powers last night, you kind of blacked out. We were worried about you. Are you sure you're feeling ok?" Cruger asked.

"Yeah, I feel fine. I guess I kind of lost control of my powers huh?" Sky replied.

"I guess so, but we shouldn't have pushed you so hard," Cruger responded.

Sky became silent. He could detect the worry and regret in his commander's voice. "Am I too late to take the test?" Sky asked.

Cruger was surprised. Any other cadet would be milking their injury for all it was worth. Any other cadet would be glad to miss a test. For the first time, Cruger became fully aware of how dedicated Sky was to his job just like his father was.

"You know, you don't have to take the test today. If you don't feel that you're ready yet, take a couple of days, and then you can make it up," Cruger said.

"Well, I don't usually like to be buried in make up work, but I really didn't get an opportunity to study for today's test last night. I don't think I'll take two days to make it up though. I'll study for it today and I'll study the next 100 regulations while I'm at it, and take a test tomorrow on 200 regulations to kind of kill two birds with one stone," Sky replied.

"Sounds like a plan, but you can take the day off today. There's really no need for you to go through with any training or class today because surely you can't feel all better," Cruger said.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Well cadets, the four of you did much better on this test since it was multiple choice instead of fill in the blank. The highest grade was a 94. The lowest was a 56. Please come up and take your test when I call your name. Kim," Kat announced.

Kim walked up to the front of the class and took her test. She saw that she got an 85.

"Dru," Kat said.

Dru walked up to the front of the class and got his test. He saw that he got a 79.

"Lily," Kat called out.

Lily retrieved her test and noticed that she got the 94.

"Boom," Kat said.

Boom went up to the front of the classroom and picked up his test. He noticed that he got the 56.

"Class dismissed. Boom, may I have a word with you?" Kat asked.

Lily, Kim, and Dru left the classroom and Boom cautiously approached Kat.

"I'm sorry to say that I have no choice but to flunk you out of the Academy. However, I do have a position for you if you are interested. How would you feel about being my assistant?" Kat asked.

Boom couldn't believe what he heard. His heart sank once he had heard Kat tell him that he flunked out of the Academy. He was intrigued by Kat's offer to become her assistant though. Without a doubt, that would give him a reason to stay at the Academy, and maybe his parents will never know that he flunked out of the Academy in three days.

"Sure," Boom said excited that he could still be a part of the Academy even if he wouldn't ever be a power ranger.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sky looked up from his S.P.D. handbook, which he had Cruger retrieve for him so he could study, to see Kim, Lily, and surprisingly Dru.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Kim asked.

"I'm fine," Sky answered still shocked that Dru of al people came to see him.

"That's good to hear," Dru remarked sincerely.

Sky, Lily, Kim, and Cruger all had their jaws dropped after that. Did Dru actually care about Sky's well being? Who would've thunk it?

"Why do you all look so shocked that I care?" Dru asked.

"I thought you hated me," Sky replied.

Sky, Lily, Kim, and Cruger looked to Dru to see how he'd respond to that.

"I don't hate you Sky," Dru answered.

Everyone else's jaw dropped yet again. Nobody thought they'd ever see the day that Dru and Sky were on the same page.

"What about our rivalry?" Sky asked.

"Oh, we're still rivals. Your accident just made me see things differently I guess. Nobody deserves to have what happened to you happen to them," Dru said.

Cruger was happy to see that D-Squad was finally on the same page for the first time. However, little did he know that D-Squad now only consisted of four cadets.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Uh Kat, what type of work exactly will I be doing as your assistant?" Boom asked not sure what exactly he had gotten himself into.

Kat couldn't help but smile at Boom's uneasiness.

"Well, as my assistant, you will become what I like to call the chief gadget tester. All the technology and weaponry here at the Academy was created by yours truly. The technology shouldn't have any glitches, but the weaponry needs to be tested before it is certified as ready for combat. All the weaponry that I create is used by the A-Squad power rangers," Kat explained.

"Are you telling me that I get to use the power rangers' weapons before the power rangers themselves?" Boom asked excitedly.

Kat nodded her head in the affirmative.

"Awesome!" Boom exclaimed.

Kat laughed. She was glad to see Boom happy to be her new assistant. At least that got his mind off the fact that he had flunked out of the Academy.

"Come Boom, we better tell Cruger that you are my new assistant," Kat said.

XXXXXXXXXX

"All right. Lily, Kim, Dru, it's time for simulation training. Let's go," Cruger said leading the three cadets out of the infirmary.

"See you later Sky," Kim called out while leaving.

"Bye," Sky answered.

Now that he was alone, Sky resumed studying his S.P.D. handbook. A few moments later, Kat and Boom entered the infirmary.

"Hey Sky, glad to see you're ok," Boom said.

"Thanks," Sky replied.

Kat scanned the infirmary for Cruger, but didn't see him.

"Sky, do you know where Cruger is?" Kat asked.

"Yeah, he took the others to simulation training," Sky answered. "Say Boom, why aren't you with them?"

"Well, I am now Kat's assistant. Cool, huh?" Boom asked.

Sky reflected on that piece of information. If Boom was Kat's assistant now, that can only mean that he is no longer a D-Squad cadet. Eventually, when they get their morphers, there will only be four rangers instead of five. How is that going to work? On second thought, maybe Sky was getting a little ahead of himself. After all, they are still only in D-Squad.

"That's great," Sky replied.

"Yeah, Boom and I better go find Cruger and tell him the news," Kat said.

Kat and Boom left the infirmary, and Sky was happy to get back to studying.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cruger was observing the simulation training. He noticed that their fighting prowess had improved markedly. However, he couldn't help but wonder where Boom was. If he wasn't mistaken, he was supposed to be doing simulation training too.

"There you are Doggie," Kat said.

Cruger turned around and saw Kat and Boom. That answered the question of where Boom was.

"I have some news to tell you. Boom here is my new assistant and chief gadget tester here at the Academy now," Kat announced.

Cruger knew what Kat was really saying though. She was really saying that Boom flunked out of the Academy, and to stop him from feeling bad, she offered him a position as her assistant. Cruger had no problem with that though. He knew that Boom wasn't up to par when it came to becoming a power ranger. However, it's not that he hated Boom despite his previous attempts to flunk Boom out of the Academy. Maybe being Kat's assistant was where Boom belonged.

"Very well. Thanks for letting me know Kat," Cruger responded.

Cruger found himself thinking about Sky again. How did Sky get his powers anyways? Was he the only one who had powers? If not, what kind of powers did others have? Then, it all became very clear to him. There was a mishap back in the year 2001. A group of scientists were working on the technology of the power rangers' morphers when an accident happened. The accident caused their DNA to be altered. However, being a feline based alien, Kat was unaffected. One of those scientists happened to be Sky's mother. That is why Sky has powers. That is where Sky's powers came from. Now who were the other scientists that were working with Kat on that fateful day? Cruger thought about it for awhile. He remembered now. The other scientists were Dr. Drew, Dr. Carson, Dr. Delgado, and Dr. Landors, and one other scientist that he couldn't quite put a name to. He made a mental note to tell Kat about his discovery and find some way to get a hold of those scientists. If they had children, then they will no doubt have powers like Sky. Cruger was very curious to see if these children's powers have been displayed and if so, what they are and how far they've progressed.

**Thanks for reading! I hope now you'll leave me a review. No flames please.**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers S.P.D.

**Best Friends**

Chapter VIII: Moving On Up

"Kat, could I speak to you alone for a moment," Cruger asked.

Boom took that as his cue to leave and left Dr. Manx so that she and Cruger could discuss whatever it was that Cruger wanted to discuss.

"I believe I know why Sky has his powers. Do you remember the mishap back in 2001 when you and some other scientists were working on the technology of the morphers?" Cruger asked.

Realization dawned on Kat's face. Of course! That makes perfect sense. That had to be the reason, but where exactly was Cruger going with this? He didn't appear to be finished yet.

"I suspect that if Sky got powers, then if any of those scientists had children, those children would have powers too. Now it's not clear or not as to whether those powers have even shown themselves yet, but I need you to look into the matter. If in fact those scientists had children, I need you to contact them and see about enrolling them in S.P.D. in the future. I fear that they might be ostracized and ridiculed for being different," Cruger said.

Kat saluted Cruger. "Okay. Will do," she said.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening, the four remaining D-Squad cadets were all studying together in the infirmary. Sky felt fine, but Kat insisted on keeping him in the infirmary overnight for observation. The four cadets had been quizzing one another on the various S.P.D. regulations that would appear on tomorrow's test.

"Sky, we were at simulation training today, when we overheard Kat tell Cruger that Boom was her assistant. I guess that means it's just the four of us now," Lily said.

"Yeah Boom told me about that when he came to visit me earlier today. I think it's a good opportunity for him. Though, I'm still confused as to how that's going to work when we are given our morphers. I mean there will only be four of us, and all power ranger teams have at least five rangers," Sky replied.

The four of them pondered that thought. Maybe they'd be the first power ranger team to have four rangers instead of five. Perhaps the vacant spot will be filled by a new recruit. It was hard to say what would happen with the vacated position on the squad.

"I can't believe you're going to be taking a test on 200 regulations tomorrow Sky. 100 is challenging enough for me," Kim commented.

"Yeah, well I only have two days to make up the test that you guys took today. I've had all day to study, so I think I might as well get it over with tomorrow." Sky responded.

The four of them got back to studying together. Lights out time wasn't that soon, so they could still get a good deal of studying done in the meanwhile.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cruger found Kat in the S.P.D. lab on a computer. That didn't really surprise Cruger though. Kat spent so much time in the lab that she practically lived in the lab.

"Were you able to find out anything?" Cruger asked.

Kat turned around so she was facing Cruger. "Yes. All of the other scientists also had children. Like Sky's mother though, the other scientists only had one kid. The news gets worse from there though. According to the database, only two of the children still live with their parents," Kat stated.

This piece of news startled Cruger. What about the other three? Were they homeless? Were they even still alive? Why weren't they with their parents? Were their parents alive?

"Which two children still live with their parents?" Cruger asked.

"Carson and Drew," Kat replied. "The Carsons had a boy who should be 12 years old right now. The Drews had a girl who should be 13 years old right now."

Unfortunately for Cruger, they were still too young to enroll at the Academy. The minimum age that a new recruit had to be was 14 years old provided that the new recruit would be turning 15 years old in six months from the time they entered the Academy.

"What about their powers. Was their any indication of them having any powers?" Cruger asked.

Kat shook her head no. Even if they had displayed their powers, there was no way **that **would appear in the database. More than likely, if their powers had already been expressed, the parents would want to keep that information secret.

"Maybe their powers won't be displayed until they are 15 years old. After all, that's how old Sky is. I know you are concerned about providing them a safe haven, but for right now, we just have to believe that their powers are dormant," Kat said.

That wasn't what Cruger had wanted to hear. Still though, rules were rules, and the two children weren't old enough to be entered into the Academy yet. Cruger couldn't go bending rules or else he might lose his job.

"Were you able to at least find out their names?" Cruger asked.

Kat didn't know what difference that would make, but she decided it was just for Cruger's own piece of mind.

"Of the two who are living with their parents, or of all five of them sir?" Kat asked.

"All five of them," Cruger answered.

"The Carson boy is named Bridge. The Drew girl is named Syd. The Landors had a boy, and his name is Jack. According to the database, he is 14 years old. The Delgados had a girl named Elizabeth or Z for short. She is 12 years old. I wasn't able to find any information on the last child other than his name is Sam," Kat replied.

Cruger wondered why there was no more information on Sam. He didn't even know how old he was. The only child who was old enough to enter the Academy was Jack, but he wasn't living with his parents, so there was no telling whether or not he'd ever be able to find him.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Kat decided it would be okay for Sky to leave the infirmary as she decided it was no longer necessary to keep him there for observation.

"Kat, would it be okay if I took a test today on 200 regulations instead of 100? That way I'll be caught up with the others," Sky said.

"All right, if you really feel like you are prepared, then that's fine with me," Kat answered.

Kat was sure Sky would do fine anyways. He got a perfect score on the first test and that was fill in the blank. Multiple choice by far was much easier. She had no doubt in her mind that Sky would get a perfect score this time around as well.

"Well, the rest of your squad should be heading to the classroom as we speak, so why don't you come with me?" Kat offered.

Kat and Sky left the infirmary and entered the classroom where the rest of D-Squad already were. She distributed the tests to D-Squad and the test began. Surprisingly, Sky was able to finish the test on 200 regulations within the 2 hours time allotted for class.

"The four of you did a much better job on today's test. The low was a 82. The high was a 100. Please come up and collect your test when I call your name. Lily," Kat said.

Lily fetched her test and saw that she got a 97.

"Dru," Kat called out.

Dru got his test and saw that he got an 82.

"Kim," Kat said.

Kim picked up her test and saw that she got a 91.

"Sky," Kat called out.

Sky retrieved his test and saw that he got a 100 despite the fact that he took it on 200 regulations instead of the usual 100.

"Okay. Your homework is to study the next 100 regulations for a test tomorrow. Class dismissed," Kat announced.

Apparently, the four of them studying together had paid off. Lily, Kim, and Dru got the best test scores to date on today's test.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that day, D-Squad was given their very own civilian blasters. All A-Squad through D-Squad cadets were given one and trained to use it.

"These are your civilian blasters. They are the standard weapon for all cadets A-Squad through D-Squad. Today, you will have target practice using your new civilian blasters. The targets are holographs, and in order to see them, everyone will need to put on these visors. There will be three moving targets. Your civilian blasters can fire three shots before it needs to be reloaded," Kat said.

She modeled how to properly hold the weapon for the D-Squad cadets. She then demonstrated how to fire the weapon.

"Now then, Lily, why don't you go first?" Kat asked.

Lily was nervous about going first. She had no idea why Kat had chose her to go first, but she didn't like it. The first target appeared and Lily fired at it. The shot was too far to the left. The next target appeared and Lily shot her blaster. This time the shot was too far to the right. The final target appeared and Lily managed to nail it this time.

"Not bad for your first time," Kat commented.

Lily was surprised at Kat's assessment of her performance. Lily had thought she had done horribly.

"Kim, you're next," Kat said.

Kim held her civilian blaster at the ready position. The first target appeared, and Kim fired at it. She would have hit it, but she had aimed too high. The next target appeared. Kim adjusted her aim and shot her weapon. This time she was too low. The third target appeared. Kim was able to connect with this one.

"Again, not bad for your first try," Kat remarked.

Kim was pleased with her performance. She didn't really have any expectations going into it, and the fact that she was even able to hit a target surprised her.

"Dru, it's your turn," Kat announced.

The first target appeared. Dru fired at it, but he had aimed too far to the left, and it just missed the target. The next target appeared. Dru took a little bit longer to fire this time, but it was worth it as he managed to hit the target. The final target appeared. Again, Dru took his time and made sure his aim was right on spot before firing. He nailed this target as well.

"Yes!" Dru shouted pumping his fist in celebration.

Kim noticed his enthusiasm as well and just rolled her eyes at Dru.

"I saw that Kimmy," Dru said.

"Whoop-ti-do!" Kim replied sarcastically.

"You're just jealous because I did better than you," Dru commented.

"No, I'm just ashamed to be seen with you," Kim responded.

Lily sighed. Apparently, their team wasn't exactly a cohesive unit yet. She wondered if Kim and Dru would ever get along and stop their petty bickering.

"Oh, is that so?" Dru asked.

"Enough!" Kat shouted. "Sky, it's your turn."

The first target appeared and Sky fired his blaster at it. He nailed it. The second target appeared. Sky aimed his weapon and fired. That target was hit as well. The third target appeared. Sky followed it with his eyes and shot at it. That target went down as well. The holographic display panel read 'Perfect!'

"Well done," Kat said.

Dru just figured that Sky got a perfect score just because he had the advantage of going last. That way, he was able to see what everyone else was doing wrong and make sure that he himself didn't make the same mistakes.

"I'm going to make a recommendation to Cruger about promoting the four of you to C-Squad. Your test scores are improving. Your simulation training has been improving. You performed quite well for your first target practice. I think it's time," Kat said.

D-Squad couldn't believe their ears. They hadn't even been at the Academy for a week, and already they were getting a recommendation for a promotion? After only four days? They didn't know how impressive or unimpressive that was, but it sounded great to them. Kat dismissed D-Squad and went to locate Cruger and give him her recommendation.

**Don't forget to read & review. No flames please. Thanks for reading my fic.**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own PR SPD.

**Best Friends**

Chapter IX: An Unsuccessful Talk

The next morning, Sky, Dru, Kim, and Lily went to the training facilities to find only Kat waiting for them. For some reason, Cruger wasn't there.

"Good morning rangers. Cruger is away on business, so I will be in charge of overseeing your training this morning. However, before we get started, there is something that I need to tell you. I had a talk with Commander Cruger about promoting the four of you to C-Squad. He decided that promoting you was a good idea, and that the four of you were deserving of becoming C-Squad, so congratulations C-Squad," Kat said.

The new C-Squad gave each other high fives and exchanged excited glances with one another. They were that much closer to fulfilling their dreams of becoming power rangers.

"However, I don't want the four of you to be under the impression that you'll be promoted to B-Squad in four days time. You still have a lot of training and regulations to memorize in order for that to happen. Now, stretch yourselves out, and then give me eight laps around the track," Kat ordered.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Cruger walked up to the door of a two story house in downtown New Tech City. He knocked on the door, and a woman answered the door. She had brown hair and blue eyes. She stood about 5'4". She was in her mid to late thirties.

"Hello. Mrs. Carson is it?" Cruger asked.

The woman looked at Cruger perplexed by how he knew her name. After looking Cruger up and down, she recognized him.

"Cruger? What are you doing here?" Mrs. Carson asked.

He knew that he had wanted to come to see if her son, Bridge, had shown any signs of having powers yet. That wasn't the only reason for his visit though. He also wanted to try to persuade the Carsons into letting Bridge enroll at S.P.D. in the future. The question was how does he say all that without scaring Bridge's mom?

"Perhaps I should come in. I really think we should sit down for this. Do you mind?" Cruger asked.

Cruger could tell from the look on Mrs. Carson's face that she was uneasy about his unexpected visit. The last time she had seen Cruger was nineteen years ago back in 2001.

"Yeah, sure. Of course. Come in," Mrs. Carson replied.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Six minutes and forty-seven seconds," Kat said after Sky had finished running four laps around the track.

Dru came around the final stretch and finished his fourth lap soon after Sky had.

"Seven minutes and eleven seconds," Kat announced.

Kat was pleased to see that there was no foul play this time around. She liked it better this way. It enabled her to see their natural running speed.

Kim and Lily were on the second to last turn of the track. They were still on their fourth lap. Despite Lily having longer strides than Kim, Kim was doing a real good job of keeping up with Lily. They made their way around the final turn into the final straightaway.

"Eight minutes and thirty-six seconds," Kat announced as Lily finished her fourth lap.

Kim finished her fourth lap soon after.

"Eight minutes and forty-nine seconds," Kat read off her stopwatch.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cruger was sitting on a couch, and Mrs. Carson was sitting in a chair across from Cruger. Mrs. Carson was a stay at home mom. Her husband was at work, and their only child, Bridge, was at school.

"Your son's name is Bridge correct?" Cruger asked.

"Yes. Why?" Mrs. Carson replied.

Mrs. Carson still had this confused look etched on her face. From the way she was sitting in the chair, she looked to be very uncomfortable.

"Has he displayed any sort of superhuman powers recently?" Cruger asked.

"Superhuman powers? What are you talking about?" Mrs. Carson said almost too quickly.

Cruger was curious as to why she had answered so quickly. He wondered if it was because Bridge had shown he had developed some sort of powers and she was just trying to cover that fact up.

"I think you know," Cruger stated.

Mrs. Carson sighed. "Look, even if he has, which I'm not saying he has, it's none of your business, so just get out!" she shouted getting up from the chair and shooing Cruger to the door.

"I'm not done talking yet," Cruger commented.

"Well I am!" Mrs. Carson exclaimed before pushing Cruger out the door and slamming the door in his face.

"That went well," Cruger thought to himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Thirteen minutes and fifty-one seconds," Kat read from her stopwatch upon Sky finishing his eighth lap.

Dru rounded the final turn and was heading down the final straightaway. Without question, he and Sky were the two fastest runners of the group.

"Fourteen minutes and eight seconds," Kat announced as Dru finished his final lap.

Lily and Kim were on the opposite side of the track with Lily having increased the gap between her and Kim. Lily rounded the second to last turn. It's not that Lily and Kim were slow runners. It's just that they weren't as fast as Sky and Dru. Kim rounded the second to last turn a few moments later just as Lily rounded the final turn.

"Hey Kat, where did Cruger go anyways? Or are you not allowed to tell us that information?" Sky asked.

"He went to talk to the parents of two kids who he believes should be displaying powers soon," Kat answered.

Sky and Dru both looked at each other in shock.

"There are other people with powers like me?" Sky asked.

"Seventeen minutes and twenty-four seconds," Kat read from her stopwatch as Lily finished her final lap.

"Does that mean that they will be coming to the Academy?" Sky asked before Kat had a chance to answer his first question.

Kim rounded the final turn into the final straightaway.

"Who's going to be coming to the Academy? What are you guys talking about?" Lily asked confused.

"Nobody's going to be coming to the Academy. They are too young to join the Academy right now," Kat stated.

"Time out. I'm still lost here," Lily remarked.

"Cruger thinks that there are others with powers like Sky's," Dru said.

"Seventeen minutes and forty-five seconds," Kat read from her stopwatch as Kim finished her eighth lap.

Kat made a note of Kim's finishing time on her clipboard just as she had done for the other three members of C-Squad.

"Alright, C-Squad hit the showers. Meet me in the classroom in forty-five minutes. Dismissed," Kat said.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cruger walked up to the front door of a mansion. He rang the doorbell. An elderly man, who Cruger could only guess was a butler, answered the door.

"Is Mr. or Mrs. Drew home? I wish to speak to them," Cruger said.

"Who are you?" the butler asked.

"I'm Commander Anubis Cruger of S.P.D. Earth station," Cruger answered.

The butler looked unimpressed. "We're not interested," he replied.

Just as he was about to shut the door on Cruger, Cruger stopped the door from shutting with his arm.

"I'm not selling anything. Is Mr. or Mrs. Drew home or not?" Cruger asked again.

"If you don't leave, I'm calling the police," the butler warned.

"I **am **the police!" Cruger countered.

The butler shut the door on Cruger anyways. 'So much for paying their parents a visit.' Cruger thought to himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back at the Academy, Kat had administered the exam to C-Squad. Another cadet came into the classroom and saluted Kat.

"Dr. Manx, Cruger is trying to contact you in the command center," the cadet said.

Kat followed the cadet out of the classroom and into the command center.

"Kat, come in Kat. Do you copy?" Cruger asked.

Kat pushed a button on the computer console. "I'm here Commander," Kat said. "So, how did it go?"

Cruger sighed. "Not as I had hoped. I guess I'll have to come up with some other way to talk to their parents. Maybe I'll try calling them. Or maybe I'll send them mail." Cruger said.

"Are you on your way back to the Academy then Doggie?" Kat asked.

"I am. By the way Kat, did you tell D-Squad about their promotion?" Cruger questioned.

"I did. They were excited to be promoted," Kat replied.

"Alright, well I'll see you in a little bit," Cruger said before the transmission ended.

Kat returned to the classroom and found that C-Squad had finished their exam. She collected them and began grading them. Once she was done, she informed them of their overall performance as usual.

"You four did really well today. The high was a perfect score. The low was an 87." Kat said. "Please come up to get your test when I call your name. Kim."

Kim retrieved her test and noticed that she got a 92.

"Dru," Kat said.

Dru fetched his test and found out that he got the 87.

"Lily," Kat called out.

Lily went up to get her test and saw that she got a 98.

"Sky," Kat said.

Sky picked up his test and found that he got the perfect score.

"Ok, you know the drill. There will be a test tomorrow on the next one hundred regulations in the S.P.D. Handbook. Simulation training starts at one o'clock sharp. Class dismissed," Kat stated.

XXXXXXXXXX

Once Cruger had arrived back at the Academy, he went to the S.P.D. lab to talk to Kat in private.

"I can't believe things turned out so badly today. I suspect that Bridge has already developed powers. When I asked his mom about that, she responded by shooing me out of the house. At least I was able to talk to her though. I wasn't able to talk to Syd's parents at all, so I have no idea whether or not Syd has developed powers yet," Cruger said.

Kat put a hand on Cruger's shoulder. "We can't force them to join S.P.D. Doggie. Don't give up hope. They might come around on their own," Kat remarked.

"Speaking of powers, I was thinking that during simulation training today, we explore Sky's powers further," Cruger stated.

Kat arched her eyebrows.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked.

"Well now that we have a pretty good idea of how long he can maintain a force field, how about we now determine how fast he can create one?" Cruger responded.

Kat looked hesitant.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea Doggie? We don't want another accident to happen as a result of us experimenting with his powers," Kat commented.

Cruger sighed. He knew she had a point. Still though, he couldn't help but be curious about every facet of Sky's powers. If he was to use his powers as a sort of secret weapon, he'd need to know all about his powers and how to control them.

"I'll tell you what, have Sky report to the command center, and we'll ask him how he feels about experimenting with his powers during simulation training today," Cruger said.

"Cadet Tate, please report to the command center immediately," Kat announced over the intercom.

**I finally got this fic updated. I had a bit of a dry spell because I wasn't sure what to do with this chapter. Once I figured that out, I was able to finish another chapter. I apologize for not updating sooner. I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know what you think in a review. No flames please. I appreciate you taking the time to read this.**


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